tain, while ibe rettims are more variaole and 

 flT'ctoatiiis than any otter — the selfish and 

 era.?phis policy of man is oftentinjes more de- 

 smcrive than even the ana-erof Omnipotence." 



Apart from the siicidal lesisiation of the Fed- 

 eral auihoriiies. onr planters hare no canse for 

 despondency. Every vie-w of the subject on 

 the contrary impenonily invites them to peree- 

 vere. In confirmation of this assertion, there 

 are rwo consideraxkins. one of a general and the 

 other of a local character, to which I would . 

 brieflv invite yonr notice — the first fbowina', that 

 better and cheaper Cotton can be growm in this 

 cottntrv than in any other section of the world : 

 the other, that by a litlle more attention to the 

 processes that =accee<i the gathering season, the 

 disDaritv b et^-een the Soxith Carolina planter and 

 his' IT. :'■ ~- i"i.em associates, in relation to the 

 m-'j- heir respective crops, wonld be . 



cr_,'_^. -i^ned. And. first, in reference \ 



to :. . - ; part of the globe where Cotton j 



is sTO'wn tor European consamption and manu- 

 facinre. it is tmdeniable that, while the prodac- 

 ti)n of the ra'w material in the United States is 

 rapidly extending, in other cottntries it is either 

 statJonarv or diminishing.* Secondly, althongh , 

 with reeard to the amotint of Cotton per acre. 

 Sonth Caro'.iiia cannot compete -with the Gulf 

 S?,ates.* ve: her planters, in consequence of this 

 apparent ici?ibmine, are enabled to send the . 

 w(>3l to market greatly improved in value by 

 a saperior mode of handling. One cent more ■ 

 per poond, occasioned by a better style of pre- 

 parad'jt- taking the crop of last year as a basis, 

 wo -ie growers over *%'0,000. 



Z' -^ saw-sin, and tie wonderful ' 



fH^.,. : inventions in England in the I 



operations oi carding. spiiming4 and -weaving 1 

 <7or:"n e«v«i birth to the Cotton-husbandry in I 

 the '' ' - 1" - plication of steam to ■ 



th*r machinery, and for ; 



ptir - --'■- improvements in '• 



ship-bi^iii:^'. •.vL;_l ei-abLe vessels that former- : 

 Iv carried only 900 pounds to the ton of register. 

 ii>w to carrj- from 1-500 to 2000 jtounds to the 

 ton. separate from the skill and indu.stry of the 

 cultivator, have materially contributed to its tm- 

 paraiifelfed exiension- 



In consequence of its abtmdance, and the 

 facilin" with which it can be twisted into a 

 thread. Cotton is the cheapest of all the materials 



* Note A and Tables 3 and 4, in the Appendix. i 

 t Wn;;e the production of the Golf States hag 



(krabLec '■.■<~f-i f>r the eiditeen years from VtH to 

 lc41 inc'TinTe. that of tfe riouthem Atlantic states 

 for the game period ha* remained neariy stationary. 

 Actual arerage of the eiehteen crops from 1^4 to 

 IMl : — ~ Irt *5 year*. 2rf 6 year*. 3d 6 ytart. 



hides. Bales. Bales. 



Gnlf State? -^13.000 .704.fW LOSO.OfXI 



SoiuhnAiLatn States 4.'R,0rjO £22,000 .729.iXiO 



* Of •':.': '■jT.-'mv.'.ri^ of the - water-frame." by Ark- 

 TTTVii-t- "x<r - ^JjnT.'.i^z-ymiiy " by Harsreavef. and the 

 "■ in^>- erinT ~ bv .~;iintie! Cromptoc the first two oc- 

 CTirr«:-i a ^hor; •.-.rrx ': •Wire the American Revolution 



j.te jisr. in ITT'. • Of the four great divisions of 



the iob^- " ■-•--■■- "- r.> r:t-i. "Europe was the 

 last to z': ' ;fa/nttre. and Endand 



was amc -^ that branch of in- 



.17:= — - • vr^r- r- -he; British 



C . ■ ■ 'he yarn 



Ft ■- rocnd 



ti- ''- would 



X*' and it 



■w - d a half 



tT^ .. . :_ jorted in 



OQfc year wouui i'-jrui a ^raiic: i<^ tue g»6e, paseing 

 eleven times roimd the Eqtiaior.'' 



for clothing : and ■what, perhaps, is of scarcely 

 less importance, it is in a high degree conducive 

 to health. For these rea-sons. it is gradually 

 supplanting fiax, silk, and wooL as an article of 

 wear, or forms a component part of all of them. 

 From its exchanseable value, and constituting 

 as it does more than one-half of our exports,* it 

 has greatly accelerated the growth and flourish- 

 ing condition of the Plantation States : aided to 

 btiild up the prosperity of their political asso- 

 ciates, and added vastly to the wealth and great- 

 ness of the Union.t Nor has its benefits been 

 confined to the North American republic. The 

 enlargement of otir Cotton-husbandry, by arotis- 

 ing the energies of the British artists, created 

 tnany of those extraordinary mechanical im- 

 provements, which have essentially contributed 

 to render England the most po-werful nation of 

 which history famishes an example. The com- 

 mtmity of interests existing between that sea- 

 girt isle and our highly favored land, owes its 

 strength and maintenance to the downy fleece 

 of a lon?-negle<rted shrub, •which, by the unex- 

 ampled skill and ingentiity of the one. and the 

 untiring industry and perseverance of the other, 

 has become •' the wonder of agriculture in the 

 United States, and the miracle of manufacture 

 in Europe.'' ^Vithout attempting to sho^w the 

 manifold blessings that Cotton has conferred on 

 the political and social conditions of other na- 

 tions, it may perhaps be only necessary to re- 

 mark, that every where society feels its friendly 

 and invigorating influence. All claaees and oc- 

 cupation-s, though its culture and manufacture, 

 on an extended theatre, are of modem date, 

 already acknowledge that the " vegetable wool " 

 is among the greatest gifts of God to his people. 

 The grand revolution which has increa.=ed the 

 production of the gossypium in this countrj- over 

 .5,676 times in half a century, has been 

 brought about not by governmental patronage 

 and d>e influence of monopolies, but against the 

 unceasing plunderins-s of the one at the resist- 

 less and tmrelenting fiat of the other. The his- 

 tory, indeed, of no pursuit affords so extraor- 

 dinary a restdt from the Isolated labors of its fol- 

 lowers, and under circumstances .so oppressive 

 and discouragin?. as that of the Cotton-erower 

 of the United .States. He sows, and endtires 

 the heat and btirden of the day, but others riot 

 in the harvest A juster and nobler policy, it is 

 hoped, ■will ere long direct the Federal coim- 

 cils. England no^w pays to America thirty-five 

 millions per anniun for a single product of omr 

 fields. To keep her in this position is a task of 

 ea-sy accomplishment if commerce be fiee. and 

 the planter be released from the shackles of per- 

 nicious and unwarrantable enactments. As an 

 exporter of tlie main crop of both countries, 

 Texas can never be the rival of the United 

 Stales, unless the spirit that has .so long swayed 

 tl)€ consritut.ed authorities of the latter shall nn- 

 forttmately continue in the ascendant Under 

 the guidance of a patriotic home lesrislation and 

 international interests, these co-terminous com- 

 munities wotild con-siitnte the region which 

 mieht abundantly supply the nations of the erlobe 

 •with its great staple commodity, and at a lower 

 rate, too, than ever was done by the labor of man- 



* The total vahie of the e j !:pmt B of the produce of 



the Trji-f-'i ~:>.'<-- '■"urirji- •?.-'■ -k-t r-T.i*r.i' f,n 'r.'; .'/th 



I are reaUzins 20 per cent, on their capital. 



